


Fortitude

by Treasure7



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Graphic Description, Minor Character Death, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Terminus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 07:58:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4911622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treasure7/pseuds/Treasure7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the season finale of season 4. The group is trapped in Terminus with no way to get out. Things appear hopeless but at least they found each other again and thus far there has not been one obstacle which they haven't overcome.<br/>Then again, there are some parts of their family who are not trapped inside a small metal box. Family members who would not hesitate to do anything to save the ones they love...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted on fanfiction.net, but as I will be adding some more explicit-details in the future chapters, which they do not allow at that site, I wanted to change the rating and thus I chose to change the site.
> 
> I haven't written a new chapter for this in about a year (since I got a lot of hate from Bethyl-shippers) but kind of hate when stories go unfinished, so I thought I'd try to finish it for you!
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> And for all the Bethyl-shippers (or, you know, general Beth-lovers), I just want you all to know that in a few chapters Beth comes into this and since I actually really like her as a character I will treat her with respect and love. Just an FYI.

Chapter 1

Tyreese looked over at the woman sleeping on the other side of the little fire they had sparkling between the to keep warm in the cold autumn-night. Looking at her sleeping form he just couldn't imagine how someone as strong as her could look so innocent and fragile whilst asleep. It was as if she became the woman she'd been before the world had gone to shit, she looked so happy and at peace. He didn't know what she had done before the dead started to walk the earth, but based on what he knew she was capable to do in order to protect those she care about, and the way she would cradle and talk to Judith when she cried, he imagined she might have had a family. Since she was alone now he figured she had lost them to this cruel world. He felt a slight pinch in his stomach at the thought of what she might have lost. After Lizzie she had told him about Karen and David and even though he understood now why she had done it he couldn't help but wish he'd had the chance to tell Karen he loved her before she left him. He knew that even if Carol hadn't killed them they wouldn't have lived much longer anyway, the disease had gone too far and they had both been suffering. Sometimes, when he was up on watch, he would pretend that Karen was there with him and that he would tell her how much he missed her but that he would stay away for the sake of her memory. She wouldn't want him to give up on life just because they couldn't share it with each other. He sighed at the thought of how little time they had gotten together.

His thoughts where interrupted by a slight whimper from Carol. He let his eyes rest on her sleeping form, wondering once again what she was dreaming. The previous smile in her face had been replaced by a frown and he wondered if maybe she dreamed about when she had lost her family? Tyreese was just about to rise and wake her from what he assumed was a nightmare when she suddenly spoke in her sleepy state.

" Daryl..." Was all he could hear from her mumbling. He smiled and eased back into the place he had been sitting. It hadn't been hard for anyone at the prison to see that Carol and the redneck had been best friends, even if neither of them was any good with showing their affection openly. He had been a little jealous of their close relationship, but at the same time he had been happy for them, knowing that you needed someone to watch your back in this new world.

***

_She walked towards him with a smile slowly spreading across her face. She had already made up her mind about what she was going to do when she reached him, sitting against the wall and working on some new arrows. She slowed down a little to take him in, his face in a concentrated frown as he worked the wooden spike. When her eyes fell on his ridiculously muscular arms and traveled down to the big, rough, hands she felt a slight shiver cover her body. Carol had wanted Daryl Dixon for so long. When she had worked the fields, looked up and spotted him sitting there alone she'd decided that it was at least worth a shot. She had to try him and see if maybe their relationship had the possibility to turn into something more than friendship. She knew that there was a risk, that he might push her away and then keep his distance from her after that, but right now she wanted him so much that she couldn't bring herself to care. Although, if that where to happen she'd probably die on the spot of embarrassment. She slowed to almost a stop at the thought, maybe she should just sit down beside him and not do anything that would risk breaking the bond they had forged?_   
_"Hi Carol", he interrupted her chain of thought with his gruff voice that made a shiver crawl down her spine. He didn't look up at her and she smiled at how easily he could read her footstep. When she didn't answer he looked up at her with a questioningly expression on his face. She sat down beside him and placed a kiss on his cheek quickly before he could stop her. He looked a little surprised and eyed her a minute before going back to working on the arrow._

_"Stop that", he said. He always did, but she knew by the little smile that was playing on his lips that he didn't really mind when she did that. Carol decided that this was her chance. She smiled to herself and she took a deep breath before putting one of her hands over the one of his that was holding the knife. He flinched a little, he always did whenever someone touched him._

_"What if I don't want to stop kissing you, what if I like it?", she catched his eyes and starred seriously into them. She noticed he at least didn't look repulsed by her statement and saw that as her cue. When he opened his mouth to answer she didn't hesitate. She leaned forward to kiss his lips and gave away a small moan when she felt his lips starting to move against hers. She let her hand wonder up into his hair and smiled a little when she heard the arrow he was working on hit the ground, but then he pulled away as if the sound from the arrow brought him back to the now. He eyed her a moment, trying to figure out what was happening here. She kept still, if he was to tell her to fuck of she guessed the easiest way to get out of the situation would be to just smile and go back to teasing him. But just as she thought he would get up and leave her, he always left whenever he felt uncomfortable in a situation, he leaned forward again to kiss her. As if he'd given in to the temptation of trying this she felt his hand go to her neck. The kiss deepened as she allowed his tung entrance to her mouth. Her other arm reached up to grab his bicep as he started to lay her down on the ground. Oh my God, this is even better than I hoped for, she thought as he let go of her lips to settle above her. He looked down at her with a question in his eyes, as if he still wasn't quite sure what was happening. Carol panicked at the thought of him moving away from her and pulled him down for another kiss before he could change his mind. When he leaned forward to devour her mouth once again she wrapped her arms around him and raised her hips to meet his. She felt his obvious arousal inside of his jeans and smirked against his lips. When she let her hands wander towards his jeans he groaned and let go of her lips to look at her, the fire in his eyes made her even wetter than before. She wanted him so bad it almost hurt._   
_" Please, I need you Daryl", she said and tried to drag him towards her again. When he came closer to claim her mouth with his she sighed happily and closed her eyes._

Carol woke up feeling empty and alone. It had been so real, the dream. But she should have known it couldn't have been, why would Daryl Dixon ever want her? Old, plain and not-even-the-slightest-sexy Carol Peletier. She shook her head a little as it laid on her arms and tried to go back to sleep, back to her dream where he was aching for her, where he was hard and wanting for her. She laid there a couple of minutes and considered maybe letting her fantasies be enough this night, as she had so many nights when she was back at the prison. She couldn't count the nights she'd fallen asleep wrapped up in her blanket as a cocoon and pretended that it was Daryl's arms holding and warming her. It made her feel safe, less lonely. Of course she'd never tell anyone about this, especially not Daryl, he'd probably get beyond embarrassed and maybe even disgusted at the idea of her snuggling up to him. Though he would never show her that, he was too kind-hearted to hurt her like that. She knew that, despite all the nasty words he'd thrown her way during their time in the group, he'd never hurt her in that way intensionally. He was good like that, and he had no idea that he was. She smiled at the thought of him red from embarrassment and shifting on his feet, not quite knowing how to handle the situation. She looked up and saw Tyreese on the other side of the fire. When she realized what she had dreamed and then remembered her thoughts about using her fantasies to relieve the tension that had set in her stomach she felt her face go red. She had completely forgotten about the big man keeping watch, what if she'd actually done it! She tried to hold back the little laughter that grew in her but failed and Tyreese looked up at her with a small smile.

"What's so funny?", he asked. Carol shook her head in disbelief at her own thoughts.

"Nothing, just a dream", she explained. His smile widened as his eyes got a curious glimmer in them.

"You looked quite happy lying there, what was it about?"  
Carol let her mind wonder back to the dream and smiled a little, wishing it could have been true. Just as she was about to answer him that she'd rather not tell Judith started moving and making sounds at her side, slowly waking up, and she gratefully took up the little girl and started to cradle her in her hands. When she turned her attention back towards Tyreese she saw that he was almost asleep and she smiled as she and Judith began their watch.

***

As he looked around the small space they all apparently shared Daryl began to think about what Rick had said, although he would have agreed with his friend a month ago he wasn't sure this time. But then again, with everything they'd been through together and how much they where willing to give up for each other, he might be right. Maybe the people who had put them here were fucking with the wrong people. He knew that if they would just be able to get to their weapons they would be able to take them out in a fair fight. He eyed the man Glenn had introduced as Abraham and the girl, more of a young woman actually, named Rosita. If they where as good fighters as they claimed to be then they would defiantly have a shot at winning. That was, if they could get a hold of their weapons. He looked around the space again, and found Maggie sitting on the floor, beside Glenn, and waiting for Rick to tell them about the plan they all assumed he had. Well, all but Daryl, Michonne and Carl at least. They knew that the former sherif hadn't had time to come up with a proper plan yet. When he'd uttered the words it had been out of anger and will to survive, not because he knew how they where supposed to get out of this shit-hole. In order to give his friend some time to think, without having everyone staring at him, Daryl decided to tell Maggie about Beth. The wound from loosing her was still fresh in him, but he refused to think about her being dead, and he felt that if it had been his family he would want to know that they at least made it out of the prison fight. Even if they later on disappeared again. He walked towards her, trying to figure out how to explain it, he had never been good with words. He cleared his throat and sat down next to her.  
" Maggie, there's somethin' I need to tell ya", he began and gave himself a little pat on the back, that wasn't such a bad start. He was getting the hang of this talking-shit. She looked at him with a question in her eyes, but the question was soon replaced with fear as she realized the only reason Daryl Dixon would need to tell her something was if it was bad news. He saw how she swallowed and determined she looked him straight in the eyes.

" She's dead isn't she?"  
Daryl wasn't quite sure what to tell her, he didn't know if she was dead or not, he only knew that he'd lost her. So he just shook his head and began to tell her what had happened, how they'd gotten away together and that she'd been safe for a while, but then they had been swarmed and when he returned from leading the walkers away from her she had been gone. Maggie eyed him while he told her everything and when he looked into her eyes again he saw something he hadn't expected to find, gratitude.

"Thank you, Daryl", she said and leaned in to hug him. He flinched and moved away from her. What was it with these people? He just told her he'd lost her sister and she thanked him and wanted to hug him. Granted, Beth could be a real pain in the ass sometimes but he'd never imagined anyone would be thankful for her possible death. And what was it with the hug, didn't she have a husband to hug if she felt she needed one? He felt the rage crawl up on him, it was his defense-mechanism in uncomfortable situations. He wasn't some teddy bear she could just hug when she felt like it. Damn it, he was just trying to do the right thing and he ended up feeling uncomfortable and wishing he'd never told her.  
She must have seen his confused, and somewhat enraged, countenance because she began to speak again. Great, he thought sarcastically, just great.

" Thank you for getting her out of the fight at the prison. It's not your fault she disappeared after, sounds like you did everything you could to keep her safe", She said, laying a hand on his shoulder. Thankfully she didn't go for that hug again. He looked up at her again, feeling a little guilty about the fact that he'd left out the story about the moonshine. She probably wouldn't have said those words if she'd known about that night. He had been drunk of his ass and if that had been the night the walkers attacked then they would both be dead by now. But it wasn't and if he told Maggie that her little sister had gotten drunk on moonshine he was sure Beth would kill him when they found her again. He realized then that he no longer had a problem with picturing Beth being alive. She'd told him that she wasn't ashamed of being alive, whilst others had died. As if she could read his thoughts Maggie smiled and nodded.  
" She's alive, she's changed so much since the farm. She's a survivor. We'll find her when we get out of here", she said and Daryl nodded at her before he got back up and started investigating the cargo space for weak spots. They sure as hell needed to get out of here because being stuck in this cage was already starting to freak him out a little, he hated small and closed spaces.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After several hours of trying to come up with an escape-plan together with the others Daryl finally felt sleep was near and he closed his eyes to let it take it with him to a world where he wasn't stuck in a cargo space with ten other people. Just as he felt his whole body start to relax, someone put a hand on his knee and shook him a little. He opened one eye to see who it was and to tell them to fuck of and let him sleep. But when he saw the look in Maggie's eyes he stopped himself.

"What?" he tried to sound as if she hadn't disturbed him but after everything that had happened the last few weeks he just couldn't stop the annoyance in his voice.

"Well, there's something I need to tell you as well. I can't sleep until you know..." She began. Daryl just kept looking at her, wondering what it might possibly be that had her so tense.

"I knew about Carol, he told be what he had done and..." when she began sobbing Daryl froze and felt instantly uncomfortable. What was he supposed to do now, tell her it was okay and that he understood? It wasn't and he didn't.  
"... and I didn't object to it. I actually think I said it was okay. I was so selfish, and even though I knew she must have had a good reason for it I was so tired of people dying that a small part of me actually agreed with the decision to make her leave the group. And now the prison is gone and she might be dead. Carol might be dead", she continued. But Daryl hadn't heard most of what she'd said, he only heard the part where Carol might be dead. He felt his heart stop for a second. Of course he had given the possibility a thought before, it was part of why he'd lost it when he was with Beth. But hearing the words from someone else's lips made the whole thing much more real. Could it really be true? Could Carol, his best friend and the only one who really understood him and why he was the way he was, be gone now? Maybe she was one of them, the walkers? Would he ever really know what happened to her, dead or alive? He lost himself in thoughts of the fact that he might never see her again, might never hear her laugh as she teased him again. He didn't answer Maggie and when she left him to go back to sleep beside Glenn he found himself thinking that it served her right to feel like shit about what she'd done. But then he remembered everything the girl had gone through the past weeks, with watching her father being beheaded and then finding out her sister was out there alone somewhere, and he instantly felt bad for wishing more evil on her. At least Carol wasn't in this shit-hole with them, and since he couldn't imagine her being undead or even plain dead he assumed that was his gut telling him she wasn't. To not give up on her. She was stronger than anyone gave her credit for, and if anyone could survive in this world he was sure it would be her. She had to survive. He needed her to be alive. Daryl almost flinched at the thought of him needing Carol, and quickly decided to change it into " he would be very sad if she wasn't". He shrugged and nodded to himself at the change of thoughts, that was actually true; He would be very sad if she was dead. He decided to skip the part where he felt his heart rip from his chest at the mere thought of her no longer being in this world with him. He was sure that was just it body responding to all the change of scenery. He really hated this damn cage.

" Messin' with my fuckin' head", he muttered to himself before giving sleep another shot.

***

Carol carefully rocked Tyreese awake, it was just after dawn and they needed to get going if they wanted to reach Terminus within the next few days. She still wasn't sure about the idea about the so-called safe place, it just seemed a bit to good to be true, but Tyreese had insisted that that's where they would most likely find the others and since Carol knew he was probably right she didn't argue about it. She wondered about what they would find when they got there. How would Rick react to her arriving with his daughter? After all he had said, even if she knew he hadn't exactly been himself at the moment, Carol wasn't entirely certain how she felt about seeing him again. She wasn't entirely certain how she felt about seeing any of them again. Then it suddenly hit her, what if they weren't even of this world anymore? What if all the people that she had loved and cared for during these last few years were all gone now? What if she and Tyreese were the only two left standing? She shrugged as if to get to negative thoughts away from her. They couldn't afford to think like that, the others had to be alive. They just had to. She packed the few belongings they had, strapped her knife back on her and put her gun in its place at the back of her jeans. She watched as Tyreese got ready for another day of survival as well.

"So, what did you do before the dead started walking the earth?" Tyreese suddenly asked her curiously. Although she was thankful for his attempt to make conversation and get to know one another Carol wasn't exactly sure what to answer him. She thought back at her life before all this, her life as Ed's wife and Sophia's mother. That was all she had been, a wife and a mother, and she couldn't remember a day when she didn't regret the first one. Thoughtfully she toughed her stomach where a scar from her previous life with Ed was situated, it was from when he had decided he might be into using a knife while raping her. Because with Ed it had almost always been rape, she couldn't remember ever agreeing to lay with him or a time where having sex with him didn't hurt her so bad she wished she could die then and there. At least then, the nightmare that was her life would have been over. But she had Sophia to think of, and that girl had been her light in a world full of darkness and evil, the world her husband had created for her. She then decided that since Ed was a part of her past, and she sure as hell didn't want him do cloud her future, she would tell Tyreese about the things that mattered to her in her past life.  
" I had a daughter, her name was Sophia", she began and Tyreese watched her with interest. She realized that Sophia would have loved the man.

" She probably would have loved you, and followed you around everywhere. She was like that when something or someone interested her, my little girl". Carol looked up at him and smiled as she continued to tell him about the amazing girl that was her daughter. She appreciated that he didn't ask her about her husband. She had only told one person about what she'd gone through with Ed, the only other person she knew who had been able to understand what it was to be stuck in a abusive relationship of some kind, the only person who truly understood what it was she had survived. Daryl. She smiled at the thought of him and looked up in the sky to send a prayer to the God he didn't believe in to keep him safe.

***

"Okay, so here's how we do it", Rick began and looked at the group that had gathered around him to hear their plan of escape. He explained how Maggie and Rosita where to ask to go to the bathroom, Daryl understood that Rick also had noticed that the guards only let them go in pairs, and once out of the cargo space and out of site from the snipers they would take out the guard that was going with them. Daryl nodded in agreement, during the three days they had been stuck in this hell hole he had noticed that these people underestimated the women at great length, but he knew that Maggie and Rosita were excellent fighters even without weapons to help them, and since the termites obviously were stupid enough to trust that one guard was enough to handle them both he knew that this part would be piece of cake for the two women. He continued to listen as Rick explained how Daryl and Glenn would be next up, and get out once Maggie had taken the keys and opened the container for them to get out. They would then together take out the other four guards always circulating their container a few meters away, he nodded again and looked over at Glenn and smirked. He was looking forward to finally getting rid of these assholes.

"Hey, guys! Looks like there's someone outside of the fences trying to figure out weather or not it's a good idea to enter", Tara suddenly spoke up from where she'd been on lookout by the small hole in the wall they had found while investigating the cargo space. Sasha was by her side within a few seconds, pressing her head towards the wall to be able to get a glimpse of who it might be out there. Maybe it was someone from their group at the prison? She gasped, and they all instantly stared at her, waiting to hear who it was.

"It's Tyreese", she said with a tear rolling down her cheek at the realization that her brother had made it out of the prison but was now on his way into the same trap they had walked into. Bob pulled her into his side in a comforting hug, telling her that her brother was a smart man and would probably be more careful than they had been.

"He's only a few feet from where we buried our weapons and ammo, I'm sure he'll realize that something's wrong once he discovers we were here but didn't return for our things", Michonne had gone over to the little hole and was watching the big man. Daryl came up with an idea.

"'Chonne, ya think we could get a message to him somehow?" he asked the warrior. She thought for a minute but then shook her head.

"He isn't looking this way", she explained. But Daryl wasn't about to give up that easily, he pulled the lighter from his jeans and thanked whoever had decided a very thorough search wasn't necessary for the Terminus-prisoners that they hadn't discovered. He figured that if he could get Tyreese to understand there were people trapped in these containers he might be able to help them. He walked over to the tiny hole and lit the lighter to get his attention. He sized the hole up and figured someone with small fingers might be able to fit two of them through it. He signed for Carl to come over to him and told him what he needed him to do. He then lit the lighter again to make Carl's finger visible in the dark night. Once he was sure he had Tyreese's attention Carl started of by signing a 'no', so he would understand not to enter. He then pointed at the man and made a circle, as to explain he meant group, followed by a question-mark. Tyreese put two fingers up indication that there was two of them. Daryl immediately tried to figure out who the second one might be but since he didn't really have any time to think about that right now he just told Carl to flip his finger eleven times to indicate that there was eleven of them in here and the other man nodded in acknowledgment of this information. This was getting somewhere. If they had Tyreese to help them maybe they could make it out of here without any causalities, Daryl thought as a small grin spread across his face.

***

As soon as Tyreese saw the small light coming from one of the containers he understood something wasn't right with this place. He instantly focused on the spot where the light had come from and in a few short minutes he'd gotten the information that there was eleven people in that container alone. He felt the hairs on his back rise at the thought of what the animals that had trapped them in that cage was planning to do to them. He needed to help these people out. He whistled for Carol to come to him when she arrived at his side with Judith on her back he told her what was going on and how he would probably need her help to save the people trapped in the container. The finger signed for them to look behind them and Carol took a few steps back to find out what they wanted the two of them to see. He heard her gasp when she found what the finger had pointed them towards. He looked back and discovered she had found a bag full of ammunition and weapons the trapped people must have left there before going in to find out if Terminus's promise of safe-haven had been true or not. The answer to that question was apparently not, he thought as he watched the finger for more information, but it just held up a sign that told them to hold on so they hid amongst a couple of bushes and watched as one of the men that had been standing guard a few meters from the container unlocked it and dragged two of the people outside of it. As they got closer to them he could make out that it was two women, he thought he recognized one of them and was just about to turn to Carol to ask her if she knew who she was when he heard the woman behind him whisper the name.  
"Maggie", she said and sounded both relived that she was alive and scared that she had now been trapped by these assholes. He squeezed her arm supportably and when she glanced up at him he told her with as much confidence he could master up:  
"We'll get them out of here, I promise". She gave him a weak smile and then stood up to walk away with Judith, who was starting to wake up from the sudden tension in the air and was threatening to give away their position. When he saw the man roughly push the two women in front of him towards the bushes, he gave a silent vow that he would do whatever it took to bring this hell-hole down.

"Ty?", he heard a tiny voice from only a few feet away from him. He knew she couldn't see him in the dark and was thankful for that since that meant neither could the asshole guarding her. He grunted a little in response, to indicate he was there and he had heard her.  
"I need you to slide me two knives from that bag over there", she said in a humming voice, to make the guard think she was singing while peeing. He quickly gave passed her two knives which she hid in her shorts, so they wouldn't be spotted.  
"Thanks, in about a minute I need you to bring two more knives and jump the fences. Glenn and Daryl will meet you behind the container. But you need to be quick and very quite, if they hear us we're dead", she hummed matter of factly and when he grunted once again she got up from where she had been sitting while pretending to pee. He watched as she and Maggie started to walk off with the guard again only to stop behind the container and slit his troth with quick moves, so he didn't have any time to make a sound. When he then saw them take the man's keys and sneek towards the container-door he grabbed two knives, just as she'd asked, and jumped the fence. As quietly as he possibly could he made his way towards the container, he wished he'd been able to tell Carol about the plan but there was no time for him to go find her right now so he would just hope she understood what was going on.  
"God, please let this go the way they planned", he prayed silently as he reached the back of the container.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Maybe they changed something? Maybe they figured out something was going on with them and decided to take them somewhere else?", Daryl looked over at the man he'd heard Abraham call Eugene. The man was a wreck of nerves and Daryl sighed and rolled his eyes as the man, who was currently pacing desperately back and forth the tiny space, kept coming up with unlikely scenarios as to why it took the girls what he apparently thought was 'such a long time'. Daryl stepped forward and grabbed a hold of Eugene's shoulder to snap him out of his negative chain of thought.

"Would ya shut the hell up? We're tryin' to focus on the task and can't hear a damn sound from the outside with you jabbering", he scolded and the other man looked at him in shock.

Good, then he'll at least keep quite, Daryl thought and went over to the opening of the cargo space to listen for any sound indicating the women had succeeded and the plan was in motion. He really hoped that Tyreese would recognize Maggie from the prison so he'd know this wasn't some kind of sick trap set by the termites to lure him inside. He looked over towards Carl, who was still positioned by the little hole in the wall as a lookout and raised his brow in a question as he got the boys attention. Carl shook his head with a small smile. Daryl nodded in a response, happy to get it confirmed that Eugene's fears of the guards changing the spot to which they took them when they needed to pee had been ungrounded. They had pretty fast figured out that the only reason they where allowed to go two at the time was because that way the guy standing guard would have a leverage in having his gun pointed at one of them as the other went into the bushes to do their business. That way the psychos had figured out that no one would risk trying to get away by jumping the fence, knowing that if they did, whoever was at the guards side would be dead within seconds.

They heard a sound at the door and both him and Glenn quickly turned their attention towards it, ready to act if it was who they hoped it was. He could have jumped in excitement when he saw Maggie's face come through the opening. He looked over at Glenn, who had a small smirk covering his face. The both men nodded towards each other in a silent agreement before they sneaked out to join Maggie and Rosita. Daryl took a deep breath when he felt the cool breeze hit his face. Finally, he thought to himself. He felt a large smirk spread across his face as he took the lead around the metal-cage they'd been kept in. When he reached the back he held his hands in fight-ready position if someone other than Tyreese, and whoever his companion was, was waiting for them when they rounded the corner. He released a slight sigh of relief when he saw the man waiting for them, but frowned as he noticed he was alone.

"Where's the other one?" he whispered. Tyreese looked at him a little confused at first, but seemed to understand what he meant and shook his head slightly.

"She's got Judith, I didn't have any time to tell her what's going on so I'm just hoping she stays put", he explained. Both Glenn and Daryl tensed in shock as he said Judith's name. So, Little Asskicker was alive then. He had to admit that he really hadn't expected her to be and knew Rick would be owing this man more than he could ever give; not only was Tyreese helping them get the hell out of here, and by that probably saving all of their lives, he had also saved his daughter despite the panic at the prison. Daryl smiled up at him and then explained what they were going to do as fast and quite as he could.

"And you're sure there won't be any more than those guards?" Tyreese asked as he finished. Glenn shook his head.

"Yes, they're taking shifts and I'm guessing they don't want to alert possible new guests arriving in the night that something is wrong by having to many people guarding the already trapped goods", the Korean explained. Daryl nodded his agreement, thankful the termites were so greedy they didn't think to protect the once they already had with every bit of manpower they could spare.

"Grasp all, lose all", he said with a grin, he was going to enjoy kicking the shit out of these assholes.

They got to work, him and Glenn sneaking up to slit the throats of the two closest guards and they then watched as the women did the same with the other two. Daryl froze as he looked up and saw there was a fifth guard they had missed, he watched him turn towards them and knew that they would be able to get out of sight quick enough. He got ready to throw his knife at the man, figuring that was their best chance at this point, but stopped himself as he saw Tyreese creep up on him and jam his blade through the mans head. Daryl turned his attention back to the others and nodded for them to let the rest of the group know it was clear to get out. Without waiting for the others to join them he, Glenn and Tyreese advanced towards what they assumed was the armory. He'd noticed the door always had a guard beside it and knew they wouldn't have the same ability to surprise that man as they'd had with the others. He quickly went through a couple of scenarios in his head before he made up his mind and gestured for the others to stop and get down on the ground. Both men followed his order and pressed themselves to the ground. Daryl kept moving forward, knowing that he needed to take on the man himself. As he was the only one of them who had any experience in hunting, and he viewed the man sort of as he viewed a prey in the woods, he knew he needed to move fast, effectively and quite. There wasn't going to be any second chances with this kill, if he didn't succeed the man would have the time to yell out and warn the others of what was happening. He made sure to keep to the shadows as he moved forward, knowing he would be almost impossible to spot if he could just succeed at keeping calm. As he reached the wall he'd been aiming at he took a deep breath before he raised his knife and was just about to round the corner, where they door with the guard was, when he heard a ruffle in the grass where Glenn and Tyreese were laying. He cursed in his mind, damn klutz was going to get himself killed. He assumed it had been Tyreese, since Glenn always seemed to get around with ease through everything he did. As he had thought the man standing guard to the door had noticed the ruffle as well and was standing up to go and check it out. Daryl decided he needed to act quickly and as the man stepped forward he sneaked up behind him and rammed rammed the knife into his head, then wiping to blade of on his pants before whistling low for the other men to join him. As they approached Daryl noticed Glenn had a satisfied grin plastered on his face.

"Figured you could use the help", he said as he eased trough the door Tyreese had opened after taking the keys of the body on the ground. Daryl just grunted in response, he was still irritated that Glenn had risked them being discovered because he had thought Daryl needed his help and since he really didn't like the idea of having to admit the other man had been right Daryl thought it'd be better not to say anything else. Instead he turned his attention towards the task; getting their weapons and then getting the hell out of this place.

***

Carol frowned, she had only been gone a couple of minutes and when she'd gotten back to ask Tyreese about what the plan for getting the people in the bunker out he was nowhere to be found. Where could he have gone? She asked herself as she looked down at the ground, trying to see if she would find any tracks indicating in which direction he'd gone. When she couldn't find any the frown in her forehead deepened and she looked at the little girl in her arms and raised a brow.

"He couldn't really be that stupid, could he?" She asked more to herself than anything, Judith made little drool-bubbles in response and Carol turned her attention back towards Terminus. She gasped as she saw people starting to pouring out of the cargo space. Her suspicions had been right, Tyreese must have jumped the fence to help them with their escape-plan. Stupid man, he didn't know who these people were. For all they know this could be some kind of a sick trap set by the people of Terminus to lure wannabe-heroes inside the fences. She shook her head.

"Idiot", she muttered.

Since she knew she wouldn't be able to help him out, as she had Judith with her and wasn't about to put the little girl in the same danger he had put himself in, she decided she would wait and see how the situation played out. If it turned out her fears had been accurate she'd have to find a way to help him out of there.

She continued to watch as the people that were now standing in front of the bunker started to organize into teams of three and seemed to be advancing towards the opening of the compound. Carol decided to follow them from outside of the fence and grabbed their gear, plus the bag of guns and ammunition they'd found, before she started making her way towards the opening with Judith on her hip. She felt incredibly vulnerable with all the luggage she was carrying and hoped to God she wouldn't run into any walkers or worse, one of the termites. She was panting and sweating when she finally got near enough so that she could see the opening without being discovered. She wanted to know who these people were before she let them see her. Taking out her knife to make herself ready in case a walker would sneak up on her and the child in her arms she eased herself down with her back against a tree and waited.

***

Once they had grabbed their own weapons plus as much extra ammunition as they could carry while fighting, if necessary, out of the armory the three men decided to head towards where the others should be by now. Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder and smiled at having the weight of it back, the weapon had always been like a part of his own body and he'd felt empty without it. Glenn whistled to them that it was time to go and he followed as Tyreese went out of the room. Daryl looked towards the Termite's camp and wished they would have been able to wipe this place out immediately, to prevent these scumbags from continuing this sick whatever-they-were-planning-on-doing-with-them. He wasn't sure just exactly why they had captured his group or what they were planning on doing with all of them, but he sure as hell knew he wasn't planning on sticking around in that cage to find out. He shook his head, it was scary how fast the world and the people who inhabited it got this twisted. He knew he wouldn't be able to get this out of his mind until they had taken Terminus down, he'd have to talk Rick into going back to do just that. But right now, they needed to get the hell out of there with the rest of their people. He turned back towards Glenn and Tyreese and started to follow them.

When they finally saw the gates Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Bob, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita and Tara had stepped through on their way into the Terminus Daryl felt a stone lift from his heart and he smiled at the sensation that they'd made it. Their plan had worked.

He heard the click a mere second after the previous thought left his head.

"And where exactly do you think you are going?", the old woman's voice sent a shiver down his spine and he looked up at the face of a terrified Tyreese. Daryl clenched his jaw and gave both Tyreese and Glenn a look that said 'Don't fucking do anything stupid, let me handle this' and both men seemed to understand what he meant. He moved to turn towards her.

"Drop the knife honey", she said pointing with the hand that wasn't holding the gun to his head. Daryl did as she said and started to walk towards her, pretending to give up. She put her hand up.

"No! Stay right there and do not move a muscle", she ordered and Daryl obeyed, he was having a hard time not grinning at how incredibly stupid this woman was. Did she really think they hadn't thought of someone coming up behind the first group while they were heading for the gate? Maggie had told them about the hidden guard at the entrance, which she had noticed once they had first approached what they had hoped was a safe-place. At the time she'd just assumed it might be a look-out in case trouble were to come their way, but now they knew the guard was there to make sure nobody got out that wasn't allowed out.

"Sweet dreams bitch", he said in a mocking tone and as he saw the questioning look on her face he couldn't help but smirk at her before Abraham knocked her out from behind with a huge rock. He then shook the other man's hand in gratitude and waited for the others to pass him before he made his way towards the gate, at the back of the group to protect them if anyone else had noticed what was happening and was coming towards them.

***

Carol squinted to get a better view of the movement that was now happening at the Terminus-gate, but it was too dark and she decided to get a little closer to see if Tyreese was one of the people that was now coming out of it. She picked up the bags and placed Judith on her hip again before she started to slowly make her way a little closer, stopping behind trees so she wouldn't get noticed in case this wasn't friendly people. She stopped about fifty meters from the group, afraid to get any closer, when she suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out for her.

"Carol, are you there?"

She smiled relieved as she recognized Tyreese's voice and stepped forward to greet him. His face lit up in a huge smile as he embraced her and Judith with a sigh. He turned his attention towards the little girl in her arms and caressed her chin.

"I've found a few people that would like to say hi", he said in that high-pitched voice he always used when he talked to the child. Carol smiled at first but then, realizing what ha had said, she looked up at him with a questioning smile. He smiled back at her.

"Come on, they're waiting over here", he explained and took the bags from her before he started to lead her towards the group. Carol was still on her guard, what kind of people was it that Tyreese had found? She didn't quite like how trusting he seemed and hugged Judith closer to her in a protective hug as they got closer.

Once she saw the sheriffs hat she understood straight away why Tyreese had been so trusting. When she heard the soft voices of her Prison-family she felt tears forming in her eyes, she'd missed them so much. She leaned down to kiss Judith on the head.

"Honey, look who Tyreese found", she said with a voice that was cracking up at the end. She was so glad to see that Carl was alive and she could hear Glenn and Maggie talking before she rounded a tree to view them all. A loud gasp went trough the group as they saw her and she took them all in as they moved towards her. She felt Tyreese leave her side and instinctively reached out to keep him at her side, but then she noticed his sister was among the people and she let her hand fall back to Judith's back, holding the little girl up.

Glenn was the first one to reach her, he pulled her into a tight hug and with Maggie joining him they all hugged for a long time. As Carl walked towards her, he stared in disbelief at the child in her arms, as did Rick. The boy dragged her in for a tight hug before he pulled away and raised his hands to take his sister from her. Carol smiled at the love Carl had for his sister. After looking over at Rick and watching as he struggled with what to do she decided to step forward to greet Michonne instead, she wasn't really keen on hugging the former sherif after what he'd said and done to her so she was fine with leaving that part out.

***

Daryl couldn't believe it. Although he had tried to think positive, a part of him had always thought she was gone, dead or otherwise. But here she was, holding Little Asskicker on her hip as if nothing in the world bothered her. He stood at the back of the group in silence as he watched her hug their family, one by one. He thought back to when he had asked Tyreese where his partner was and he had answered that she was taking care of Judith. He had been so surprised and happy that the little girl was alive that he hadn't given a thought to who the woman might be.

Suddenly the group stepped away a little, making a path for him to come forward. He didn't know if he was ready, after loosing Beth he wasn't sure whether this was a dream or not and if it was he really didn't want it to end. Seeing Carol alive made him more happy than he had expected it might and he was afraid that she would disappear if he moved or took his eyes off of her.

When she saw him she gasped and he could see in her eyes that she was thinking the same thing as he was so he decided to take a chance and forced his legs to move towards her. All he wanted to do was to hold her, to make sure she was real, but as he finally reached her he stopped bluntly. What if she didn't want him to hug her? He searched he eyes for an answer. Slowly she reached up her hand to touch his cheek, looking worried he's flinch from her touch, as Daryl did the same she turned her face into his hand. After a few seconds she looked up at him again.

"Hey", she said, tears filling her eyes. He let his hand slide to the back of her neck and pulled her into a somewhat stiff hug, the need to check her legitimacy stronger than his instinct to flee from human contact. He put his other hand on her head and relaxed as he caught a hint of the flowery scent that was all her, all Carol.

"Hey", he greeted her and kept his arm around her a little while longer as they moved away from terminus, he needed to make sure she wasn't going to disappear on him. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but right now he was just glad to have him best friend living and breathing by his side. He looked back towards the Terminus, he'd have words with Rick about going back to finish it of in the morning. Looking back down at the woman at his side, the woman he'd almost lost, he thought that Terminus wasn't the only thing he'd talk to Rick about in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"So, where exactly are we heading?"  
They had been walking for almost two hours and, as the sensation of finding out his sister was amongst the people in the cargo space was settling down, Tyreese wanted to know what the plan was. The group stopped almost instantly, all of them looking questioning at him.

"I was under the impression you were leading us to some sort of camp you guys had?", Rick said, sounding quite irritated with him. Tyreese frowned at the man, he had just saved their asses and now this guy had the nerve to be irritated for him not having some kind safe camp to take them to as well? It wasn't like either him or Carol had known their sorry asses had even been stuck in that cage. He was just about to tell the former sheriff that if he was displeased in any way he would gladly lead him right back to the termites, at least _they_ had a plan for him. But he was stopped by a voice from the back of the group.

"Well, Rick, it's not like we had any idea Terminus was going to be a trap and that we'd end up needing another place to hold up for the night. If this arrangement doesn't suit you then you are more than welcome to just _leave_ "

Tyreese smirked as he realized Carol was just as infuriated as him that the asshole, who had kicked her out of their group in the first place, now had the nerve to pretty much call them both unprepared idiots. She stepped forward and continued, clearly not giving a fuck about the fact that every single one of them was staring at her in disbelief. This was _not_ the same woman they'd all seen taking care of everything and everybody back at the prison. This, the woman in front of them, was one pissed of Carol Peletier.

"I realize you don't like the fact that it was in _my_ arms Judith was when you found her again, since you've got it in you twisted head that I would actually hurt your children. But you know what? Tyreese and I have been taking real good care of her, better than you could ever have done. If it wasn't for that man over there, the man you were convinced would be capable of killing me, your little girl would probably be dead and so would the rest of you. So how about you show a little fucking gratitude instead of being irritated over the fact that we couldn't predict the future!", she finished of, pointing at Tyreese before she crossed her arms and glared at him.

Tyreese felt a grin spread over his lips while he was waiting, with the rest of them, for the now extremely shocked Rick to answer. But before he had the chance to do that they heard moans coming from the woods behind them, and it was closing in on them quick. Everyone except for Carol, who was still glaring at Rick and obviously hadn't catched up to what was going on, turned towards the two walkers that were heading straight towards her. When they were only a few feet away from her she finally snapped out of her angry-state and pulled out her knife to stab one of them in the head. Everyone else seemed to have frozen at the spot, and Tyreese simply couldn't make his feet move as he watched the other walker closing in on her as well. There was no chance she would get her knife out of the head and plunge it into this one fast enough and he felt his heart stop when he realized what was going to happen.

Just as the walker was about to sink it's teeth into her arm it suddenly froze and fell to the ground, with an arrow sticking out of it's head. Tyreese raised his eyes to discover a very tense, and seemingly furious, Daryl Dixon standing with his crossbow still raised from releasing the bolt, staring at them before letting his eyes fall to Carol.

"Ya 'kay?" he asked her and as she nodded he let his eyes wander to Rick and continued.

"If ya'll done with your bitching then maybe we could start looking for a place to hold up for what's left of the night", he stated and started walking again with Abraham, Rosita, Tara and Eugene following him. The rest of the group, shocked over his seemingly infuriated state over what had just happened, just looked after him for a few seconds before they to fell in step behind them.

Carol caught up to Tyreese and let out a heavy sigh as she fell into step beside him. Tyreese looked down at the woman he'd become pretty close to the last couple of weeks they'd spent surviving together. He'd learned that she and the hunter had some kind of a special bond, the way she'd spoken about him when they were on the road together had told him as much, and he assumed her sigh had been more about the way her man had stormed of rather then what had just occurred between her and Rick.

"You okay?" he asked her, thinking more about her heart than her physical state. She smiled a little and shook her head.

"I haven't even had time to talk to him about the day I was forced to leave him and the others, let alone tell him how glad I am to have found him alive, and now he's mad at me for scolding his best friend when all he really said was that he thought we might have a place to hold up. How was he supposed to know we've been living in half-rotten houses or on the road to last couple of days? Not to mention, I almost got bit and he hates it when I put myself in danger" She answered, almost smiling at the last statement. Tyreese frowned, how was she turning Rick's shitty attitude and her standing up for the both of them into being _her_ fault?

"You do realize the asshole deserved what he got, right? The guy pretty much left you for dead when he kicked you out of our family", he said. Although he couldn't anticipate how he would have reacted if he had found out what she'd done before the governor attacked he couldn't ever imagine killing her over it. She didn't deserve to be left out the way she'd been and he understood her anger towards Rick completely.

She looked up at him again and gave him a light hug before Sasha came up to join them.

"I should probably go after him, to apologize", she said, meaning Daryl rather than Rick.

***

_Deep breaths, man, deep breaths._

Daryl walked with his fists clenched at his sides. He wasn't sure what he was so angry about, really. When he'd seen Carol stand up to Rick and practically press him down into his boots for being an ass to Tyreese after the man helped save them all, he'd been proud of the woman she'd become. She was no longer the little helpless mouse she'd been back at the quarry or even at the farm. This was a completely new Carol, a warrior who knew she hadn't deserved how Rick had treated her. But when he'd realized how passionately she defended Tyreese, the man she'd spent the last weeks alone with while thinking Daryl himself was probably dead, he'd felt like throwing up right then and there. When a few seconds later she'd been attacked by the walker, with the man she had been defending just standing and watching as she nearly became walker-food, his hurt had turned into rage and when that bolt hit its target he'd secretly wished the walker would have been Tyreese instead.

Damn it, what was going on with him? He knew deep down that nothing could be going on between Carol and Tyreese, she'd killed his girlfriend for God's sake. And what did he care anyway, it wasn't like Carol was _his_ woman or anything. She was his best friend and that was it, but he just couldn't help but feeling his stomach turn at the thought of an other man touching her, kissing her soft lips, making love to her beautiful body.

He shook his head to clear it from his thoughts, this was ridiculous.

He heard her come up to him, no matter how much time passed he would never forget the sound of her steps, light and quick. He felt some of the tension leave his body as she fell into step with him and he could feel her eyes on him.

"What?" he said, not meaning for it to come out quite as gruff as it did. She made a face at his harsh tone but didn't flinch, as he had suspected she would. This definitely wasn't the same woman as before. She sighed and watched him for a moment before she spoke.

"I'm sorry", she said finally. Daryl looked down at her, questioning.

"Sorry for what?", he wondered. What on earth did she have to be sorry about? Well, except for the fact that she almost got her ass killed because she was so caught up in her anger to notice the walkers. Damn woman needed to be a lot more careful or he'd be forced to cuff her to his side where he would be able to keep an eye on her.

"Well, I just got you back after thinking I'd never see you again and the first thing I do is to scold at your best friend and pretty much telling him to leave you all", she paused for a minute before she added

"And almost getting bit because I wasn't being careful, I was just so angry at him for leaving me and for being an ass to Tyreese I guess I just... snapped, you know" she rambled on. Daryl just looked at her with his eyebrows raised and a small smile on his lips. Apparently his Carol wasn't all gone, she was still thinking about someone other than herself, even when she was angry. Here she was, actually apologizing to him for giving Rick a much needed scolding for leaving her alone. When he heard her mention Tyreese his heart almost broke, but he decided he'd do better as her friend than nothing so he would be supportive about that. Almost a little proud over himself for being mature enough to do this he started.

"You're a real piece o' work woman, ya know that?" he said, a small smile twitching at the side of his mouth. She looked down at her boots.

"I know... I'm sorry", she answered, obviously not understanding what he meant.

"I don' blame ya for bein' pissed at Rick, the man deserved wha' he got. I would ask ya to be a bit more careful in the future though. Can't have ya dying on me, I just got ya back", he explained, smirking at her.

She nodded at him in understanding, and he saw a relived smile growing on her lips as she realised he wasn't angry at her for the whole Rick-thing. He decided it was time to go forward to ask the question he really didn't want to know the answer to.

"So, you and Tyreese huh?" He asked, and the second the words left his mouth he wanted to cut his tung out and feed it to the next walker he saw. But since they were already out and he couldn't take them back he just waited for her answer, knowing it would probably make him feel like he'd gotten punched in the stomach.

"What about me and Tyreese?" She asked and instead of answering her he just raised his eyebrows in a meaning gesture, which made he blush furiously and when she shook her head he felt the grip around his heart soften.

"Oh, no! Dear God Daryl, I killed his girlfriend. Even if she was drowning in her own blood when I found her, and I probably only ended her suffering, the little fact that I put a knife through her head has this weird affect on him where any type of attraction is impossible", she winked at him before grabbing a hold of his arm and leaning up towards his ear.

"Besides, you know you're the only man for me", she whispered teasingly. He'd missed her teasing, _God_ had he missed it.

"Stop", he said, more out of habit than actually meaning it. Obviously she and Tyreese had talked the whole Karen and David-thing out, since she was able to talk about it in such an easy way. He knew she had no regrets about what she'd done, since the only reason she'd done it was because she'd been trying to protect their family, and he really couldn't blame her as he would have done the exact same thing if he thought it would help save the rest.

She let go of his arm and they walked in silence for a couple of more minutes.

***

When she saw the big house standing up on a hill Carol almost cried out in relief, she was so tired from everything that had happened since she last slept. She'd gotten a large part of her family back, including the man beside her, as well as given Rick a piece of her mind for kicking her out, not that she was close to being done with him when it came to that. On top of this they'd learned they had a new enemy that needed to be taken care of. But for now, she would be happy if she could just get some sleep and maybe some food. She puffed Daryl with her elbow, pointing at the house, and his eyed lit up as he nodded at her before they made their way towards the house with the rest of the group on their tail.

Once they reached the door Carol went in to clear it with Daryl, Abraham, Rosita, Glenn, Michonne and Michonne behind her while the others checked for threats on the outside. They found four walkers inside and made quick work of them before dragging the bodies out to be burned. The house contained six bedrooms and a living-room with two couches. Rick volunteered to take one of the couches, probably feeling bad for his previous behavior, and Michonne said she'd sleep in the other. They both also volunteered to take up first watch.

It was decided that Carl and Tara was to share one of the two rooms with two single beds, with Judith sleeping in their room after Carl requested to have her stay with him. Carol sighed as she heard the rest of the rooms being taken up by the others. In the end there was only her, Daryl, Eugene and Tyreese left with one room containing a queen-size bed and another containing two singles. She watched Eugene eying her and Tyreese, obviously waiting for one of them to offer him to double up with them so he wouldn't have to sleep with the angry redneck, who didn't seem to excited to share a room with him either. She raised her brow at Tyreese in a question and when he gave her a smile and nodded she turned towards Daryl.

"Daryl, do you mind if we double up?" she asked him, nervously biting her lip.

"Yeah, sure. Which room is ours?" he shrugged and she amazed at how natural this seemed to him.

"Well, if I'm sharing a room with a guy I would like to point out that I would not be comfortable with sharing a bed with him as well", Eugene pointed out. Carol catched Daryl rolling his eyes at the other man before he spoke.

"Assumed as much", he said as he started to make his way towards the room he was sharing with her for the night. Carol gave the two men left standing a small smile before she followed him up the stairs.

As she reached the door he had left open for her she felt how tired she really was and couldn't wait to get down on the soft bed and relax her body. If she hadn't been so damn tired at the moment her thoughts most likely would have been on something completely other than sleep, but as it was now she was content with just having his body beside her, knowing he was alive and breathing next to her after so many nights dreaming of him and thinking she'd never see him again.

The moment she started to pull some of her clothes of, and saw him doing the same, she thought maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. She would have been better off sharing with Tyreese; he saw her as a sister and she saw him more as a brother than anything else so when they'd traveled together she hadn't even thought twice before asking him to take watch while she took a bath or something else that required her taking her clothes of. But seeing the man in front of her taking of piece by piece of his clothing sent a shiver through her body and she clutched her thighs together.

"Too tired, huh?" She muttered, glaring down at her traitorous body.

"Did ya say somethin'?" Daryl asked her, running one of his big hands through his hair as he yawned. God how she wanted to do that, how she wanted to feel those big rough hands all over her body while she drew her hands through his hair. She swallowed hard and shook her head. He stripped his shirt of, knowing she'd already seen the scars that covered his back and chest and therefore no longer feeling the need to cover them up in front of her, and when he had nothing other than his boxers on he crawled into bed. She smiled at how much he'd changed since they'd been at Herschel's farm. Back then he'd flinched at the tiniest touch and he'd hidden his scars from her, ashamed and thinking they'd scare her. As time passed he'd grown more comfortable with her touching him and didn't even seem to care if she saw the scars anymore. It made her so proud to see the change in him, he was so strong, so beautiful.

She stripped the top-layer of her clothes of , but left her shirt on, and crawled up into the bed beside him. She wouldn't be getting any sleep if she didn't at least keep some clothes between her and his half naked body.

"Goodnight", she said before a big yawn caught her and she tucked her head into the pillow.

" 'Night", he answered her, already half asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was still dark outside when she woke from someone talking in hushed voices outside of the door to the bedroom she was in. Carol panicked, Tyreese would be on watch while she slept and since it was just the two of them and Judith he couldn't be talking to anyone. Speaking of whom, where in the world was the little girl? She reached for the knife at the nightstand and was just about to rise from the bed and investigate what exactly it was that was going on, when she was dragged back down to the mattress by a pair of strong arms. Her panic increased and she turned to push herself away from the stranger, who kept her in an iron-grip against his body. But just as she was about to slap the man so he would release her, her eyes landed on the sleeping form of Daryl Dixon.

Suddenly the events from the previous night came back to her and she settled down in the bed beside him again, allowing his arms to embrace her tightly and drag her body closer to his. Carol smiled, apparently sleeping Daryl was a cuddler, and she sure didn't mind feeling his body press against her back.

As she wriggled a little to get back to a comfortable position she accidentally moved her ass against his crotch and felt a heat rise through her body when she felt him, hard, against her. She was almost certain he'd be embarrassed about the cuddling in the morning, but she knew he'd be mortified about the other part and probably avoid her for the rest of the day. Then he would most likely volunteer for watch and sleep on the floor when he got back or something, anything to avoid this from happening again.

_Well, if this is all I'm getting, then I'll take it._

She thought to herself and as she moved her ass against him once more, for good measure, she heard him give a soft moan against her ear. Man, did she wish she could take him off those boxers and explore him with her hands, hearing him moan her name as he reached his peak. But, for now, she was content with just being this close to him, and feeling his chest heave from his breaths. Breaths that meant he was alive, that her prayers for his safekeeping hadn't been a waste. She bent her head down a little to place a kiss on one of his arms, so thankful that they had found each other. Even if he would never be able to give her all she wanted from him, she needed him in her life regardless.

She eased her head back down on her pillow and fell back to sleep almost instantly, the warmth of Daryl's body pressed against her and his arms around her making her feel more safe than she had in a very long time, if not ever.

"Thank you", she whispered to whatever part inside of him it was that had spurred him to hold her, even if he wasn't aware he did.

***

When he woke to the soft body of Carol being pressed against his chest, Daryl's whole body immediately tensed up. How on earth had this happened? Daryl Dixon was not a cuddler, he wasn't even comfortable with people hugging him, much less sleeping with an almost naked woman pressed against his body. He slowly began to entangle himself from her to relive whoever was on watch at the moment, or maybe go hunting, anything to get out of this situation.

When she moved a little against him in her sleep, and gave away a soft moan, he realized he had another problem to take care of first. And he cursed both his unconscious self for initiating this contact, and his body for answering to it.

_Fucking traitor_

Daryl finished entangling his body from hers and quickly got dressed. What in the world had he been thinking when he'd taken of all of his clothes last night before going to sleep? He hadn't slept without clothes in what felt like forever and suddenly he had decided to just pretty much get naked as soon as he had a bed to sleep in? What if a herd had come through and they would have needed to act fast, not to get killed? What if the termites had followed them and attacked during the night, then he would have been completely defenseless, wearing nothing but his boxers and a fucking hard-on.

_What the FUCK Daryl, you need to get a fucking grip of yourself and get back to your old self. And that FAST._

He looked back at the sleeping form of Carol and his mind traveled back to the fact that he'd slept beside her without his shirt on. He knew Carol had seen his scars before, and that she had her own scars so she really didn't care about them. She had told him that there wasn't any need for him to feel ashamed of them, that they were proof of him as a survivor. But still, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about the whole situation. Just because she didn't feel like he should be ashamed didn't mean he automatically could erase what years of abuse had done to his self-esteem. Hiding his scars from people, and being ashamed to show what hid father had done to him as a child, had pretty much become a part of who he was. There was nothing anybody could say that would change that fact. He was damaged goods, and he knew that. He had accepted that.

Shaking his head, he left the room to go do something useful instead.

***

"Honey, I think we need to get up and help the others", Maggie shoved her husband a little to wake him up. Glenn just grunted and let an arm shoot out to drag her back into bed with him.

"Five more minutes", he answered sleepy. "Just five more minutes, please".

Maggie smiled, she'd missed these moments. She'd missed being able to share a bed with the man she loved. She wanted to kiss whoever had seen fit to return this to her, to return her reason for living to her arms. She gave away a deep sigh when she realised just who, exactly, she had to thank for this. Actually there was two of them, but Tyreese had told her that it had been Carol's idea to wait until dark and then study the Termites before entering the place Maggie herself had walked right in to. Carol was the reason they had spotted Tyreese in the bushes and gotten him to help them out. And if he hadn't taken out that last guard, that none of them had anticipated would be there, they would have been discovered and most likely killed at the spot. It was Carol who she had to thank for this moment with Glenn. The woman who she'd told Rick it was okay to banish. Knowing Carol, she knew the older woman wouldn't blame her for fearing for the lives for the group. Even if the woman had snapped at Rick last night, and told him a few things Maggie knew she would be regretting now, Carol would never blame her for agreeing with him about his decision. She would just assume Maggie thought about what was best for the group and put the blame to herself. She had been wrong to take the matters into her own hands, there was no arguing about that, but Rick shouldn't have kicked her out without consulting the council first. And Maggie's reason for so quickly agreeing with him hadn't exactly been unselfish.

"Hey, what's going around in that pretty head of yours?"

She looked down at her husband again. He, Beth and her father had been the reason she'd been so quick to turn against the woman who had been like a sister to her. When she'd heard what had happened to Karen and David, Maggie had been so afraid that the same thing would happen to her loved ones.

"I was just thinking about how Carol is the one I have to thank for being here right now. For you bing here right now", she answered him truthfully. Glenn shook his head, obviously knowing exactly what she had been thinking about.

"I'm sure she'll understand your reasons, Maggie, just talk to her. And you have to stop blaming yourself, you can't change what has already been done. Even if you would have told Rick it wasn't okay, it wouldn't have changed anything; Carol was already long gone by the time you found out" He reached out and pulled her closer to his chest. Maggie couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes.

"I... there's a part of me that's happy he did it. If he hadn't, then maybe she wouldn't have been there to help Tyreese get us out. Oh God Glenn, I'm such a horrible person!" she sobbed into his chest. He didn't say anything, just stroked her hair, and she knew he had thought the same thing, they all probably had.

***

Carol tried to concentrate hard on the breakfast she was currently preparing for everybody. Even though she'd expected Daryl to be gone when she woke up, she couldn't help but to feel a little disappointed not to feel his warmth with against her back.

_Oh, well. I guess I should be thankful for the little things..._

She thought and grabbed one of the squirrels he'd hunted for the group this morning. Most likely while scolding himself for what he'd done whilst asleep. She smiled at the thought of him finding himself hard against her.

_If he'd just woken me up I could have helped him with that._

Her face heated at the thought.

She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice Rick coming into the room with her. When he cleared his throat to catch her attention she jumped and turned towards him to see who it might be that had woken up, finally.

"Oh, you scared me Rick"

He looked down at his boots and Carol could see that there was something on his mind. Since she thought this really wasn't the time or place for them to have the conversation she expected he wanted to have, she stopped him before he could talk.

"I was planning on checking the forest around back for some berries or vegetables of some kind for lunch after breakfast, would you mind helping me? I would go alone, but since I'm not familiar with the surroundings yet I thought I'd be wise to have someone with me to keep an eye out for walkers", she rambled on, hoping he'd get the hint.

When he did, and nodded his head in acceptance of her proposal, she flashed him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and turned back to focus on the squirrel again.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
After he'd left some squirrels for one of the women, most likely Carol, to make breakfast from, Daryl decided to go back out into the woods again. He needed some time to think. Everything had happened too fast in the last couple of weeks; He'd pretty much broken down at the thought of his whole family, including the only person he'd ever really connected with, being dead. Then he'd lost Beth as well and somehow joined a group of pure assholes and sick fucks. After he'd decided to leave the group to find out if maybe there  _was_  someone from his family that was still out there, they'd run into Rick, Carl and Michonne. Although Daryl, of course, had been extremely happy and relieved by this fact, he'd still felt a peace of his heart missing. He still hadn't known if Carol was still human, or if she'd died and now walked the earth as a rotting corps. He'd had no idea how to handle the fact that his other best friend, the man he saw as a brother, was to blame for her not being with him.

_He did take the right decision, for him, at the time though._

As the thought crossed his mind, Daryl jerked his head, not really getting why he'd thought that. But it  _was_  true; Even if he understood why Carol had killed Karen and David, and that it most likely had been a mercy-kill, he couldn't really blame Rick for reacting the way he had either. Even if he couldn't help but to feel a little unjustly treated since Carol was his woman and Rick had just thrown her out without so much as to ask his opinion on the matter. But he understood the decision, he really did. Rick didn't know Carol like Daryl did and that meant that when he didn't get any explanation as to why she had killed them, he would naturally assume she'd grown cold. That's what this world did to people; it turned them into monsters. Not Carol though, he knew that, but Rick  _didn't_ know that so he'd acted to protect his children and Daryl understood that, even if the fact that the sheriff had pretty much sentenced his woman to death made his blood boil.

_YOUR woman, is she?_

What was wrong with him, why was it like his thoughts was somehow working against him? Carol wasn't his woman, in the sense that they were together or anything. But she  _was_  his in the sense where he felt responsible to keep her safe and he'd almost been ready to give up when he thought he'd failed and that she'd died. She was his in the sense where he wouldn't handle it very well if any other man were to touch her. She was just his, and everybody should know and respect that. His thoughts wondered back to that morning, when he'd woken up with her in his arms. A part of him had liked the feeling of her tiny body pressed against his, it had been nice to be assured about the fact that everything that had happened the day before hadn't been a dream. She was alive and she was there, with him. But there was still a big part of him that wasn't comfortable with the closeness and he'd reacted according to that part. He was thankful she'd still been asleep when he'd left, he really didn't want her to get the wrong idea and make things weird between them. Not now, not when he'd finally gotten her back.

He sat down against a tree as his mind began to drift towards all the things he needed to tell and ask her. He still hadn't had a chance to talk to her, to tell her about how worried he was about Beth and the need he felt to go out looking for the girl. After all, he was the one who'd lost her and thus he figured it was his responsibility to bring her back. But he couldn't bring himself to leave his family, leave her. He still hadn't had any chance to ask her about what really happened with Karen and David, he'd just taken her side out of loyalty and conviction that she wasn't the cold-bloodied killer-type. But now he felt like he really needed to hear her side of things. He needed her to tell him that his decision to stand behind her wasn't a stupid one. He was also curious about her relationship with Tyreese. Even though she'd told him yesterday that there was nothing going on between the two of them he still could quite shake the ever brooding jealousy that someone other than him had gotten close to her.

_Jealous huh?_

"Oh, shut up!", he muttered and stood up and walked back towards the house they'd stayed in over the night. He needed to talk to Carol as soon as possible, otherwise his own thoughts might make him go crazy.

* * *

*******

Rick couldn't believe this. Here he was, in the middle of the zombie fucking apocalypse, and he was nervous about speaking to the woman who he used to view as someone who needed protection. The woman he'd left on the road a couple of weeks earlier because she had killed two of their own in cold blood. The woman who only a few hours earlier had screamed at him and basically told him what a horrible father he was. He was nervous about what she would say to him. As much as he hated to admit it he would much rather just leave well enough alone and take on a watch-shift instead of following her into the woods to talk as she was looking for berries. He didn't recognize this new Carol, he'd never known her to be angry. Ever. Not even when Daryl had yelled at her after she'd lost her daughter had she lost her temper. She never did, that was what made her Carol. But last night she'd lost her temper completely and Rick had been in such a shock he could barely make a sound to defend himself. He couldn't really blame her for being angry though, when he'd left her he hadn't really allowed her to explain  _why_  she'd killed two of their own. Sure they'd been sick and most likely contagious, but that wasn't a good enough reason to kill them in cold blood. At least Rick didn't think so.

When he'd left her he hadn't wanted to hear her reasons for the act either, he had been afraid that she might change his mind about his decision to protect his family. But now he was sure that, whether he liked it or not, he was going to hear her side of the story. After all, he'd been the one who'd sought her out this morning to do just that, hear her out.

_Well, better get this shit over with then..._

As the thought went through his mind he strapped his knife in its sheath and grabbed his gun before he turned around to leave. Only to step right into Michonne.

"Sorry", he said and gave her a weak smile, his nerves still on edge for the conversation awaiting him as soon as he left the house. The woman before him smirked.

"A little stressed, are we?" She asked, raising a brow in question. Rick felt himself relax some, this woman had some kind of calming effect on him and he couldn't for the life of him put his finger on what exactly it was she did that made his tension run away. He shrugged a little to answer her question.

"You want to talk about it?" She looked a little worried. Rick shook his head.

"Nah, I'm just heading out to talk to Carol about... you know", he said. She nodded in understanding and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder before she spoke.

"It's gonna be fine, Rick. You've known each other for a long time and I'm sure you'll be able to sort things out. You know I don't agree with what you did, but I understand why you did it. Carol is a very strong, kind and forgiving woman. I'm sure she'll understand your point of view, even if she likes it about as much as I do", she said before letting go of him and walking towards her makeshift bed on the sofa opposite from his. Rick smiled towards her and nodded his thanks for her support before exiting the room to look for Carol.

_It can't very well get worse than last night, can it?_

* * *

*******

Carol picked up the two baskets she'd found in a closet inside the house and went out to meet up with Rick. She knew she had a lot of explaining to do, both about the things she'd said the night before and about what she'd done back at the prison. When she thought back to the previous night, when she'd completely flipped on him, she found herself wishing she could take everything back. The things she'd said had come out of anger and exhaustion, her words had been a reaction of all of the different feelings going through her upon finding so many of the people she loved, and the uncertainty of that they might not stay once they heard what she'd done. She needed to explain this to Rick, she needed their former, and most likely present, leader to understand both why she'd killed Karen and David, as well as why she'd flipped out on him.

She shook her head to keep her thoughts from driving her crazy. She knew she needed to talk to Daryl as well, but right now Rick seemed like the better choice to test her explanation-speech on. She wasn't quite ready to have Daryl turn away from her, to look at her like Rick had done the day he left her in the little town with a car and some supplies. She knew that he was aware of what she'd done, but she really didn't think he'd let himself really let it sink in and so therefore she was pretty sure that when he did, he'd be disgusted by her. They had both changed, he'd turned into a man of honor and she'd become... well, the person you looked to when you needed someone to end it all for you. The executioner.

When she got out in the garden, where Rick and her had decided they'd meet up, he was already waiting for her. She noticed he looked a little nervous and decided to wait until they'd gotten a few minutes into the woods before she approached the subject. She gave him a small smile as she handed one of the baskets to him and let her hand make the now automatic gesture of making sure her machete was attached to her hip. He smiled back at her and crooked his head towards the tree-line below the tiny hill where the house was situated.

"Shall we then?" he asked, waiting for her to take the lead.

They walked in silence for some time and when Carol felt the tension between them break a little she decided it was time. She bent down to pick some blueberries as she began to speak, not wanting to meet his eyes just yet.

"Rick, there is something I need you to know", she began. She could feel his eyes on her. When he didn't respond she decided to just keep talking.

"When you left me..." She stopped a little at the all too painful memory.

_Get it together woman, you need to do this. He needs to understand._

"When you through me out of the group for killing Karen and David, you never really gave me a chance to explain. And since it felt like you've already made your decision about me being a cold-bloodied killer I didn't try to either. I just gave up, I just let you think the worst because I didn't see any way you would change your mind about leaving me so why bother, right? I guess what I'm trying to say is... " She looked up at him, not caring about the tears that had started to run down her cheeks.

"Why?" he finally spoke. She knew that was all he wanted to know. He didn't care about what she'd felt at the time, or hear any more accusations from her. He just needed to know why she'd taken it upon herself to kill two members of their family. She nodded and decided to skip to the why-part.

"They begged me", she breathed. "They where both coughing blood, and begged me to end their misery. I would have gotten you or someone else to do it, to end it, but I..." Her voiced trailed of at the end and she sobbed into her hands. He knelt down beside her, put one hand on her back and let the other cup her chin and tilt her head up so her eyes met his.

"But, what?" he urged her to continue. When she looked into his eyes she saw no disgust or resentment, only sadness and understanding.

"I thought that maybe if nobody else was around them when they where that bad, then maybe I was the only one it would be contagious towards and well, if I killed them and then isolated myself until I was sure it hadn't spread, then I could save the rest of you. And I couldn't risk the disease spreading from their bodies so I... I burned them to keep it from spreading", She buried her head in her hands again, ashamed over how naïve she'd been.

"And then yesterday I just.. I just flipped out on you. I just... God, Rick, I'm so sorry!"

* * *

*******

Rick looked down at the woman in front of him. He wasn't sure what he'd thought her explanation would be, but it wasn't this. The woman before him wasn't a cold-bloodied murderer , she was the woman he'd always thought of her to be, only a stronger version of the same. She hadn't killed Karen and David to "rid themselves of a potential threat", she'd killed them to end their misery and because she didn't want to risk anyone else getting infected. She'd followed their wishes, and now she was somehow ashamed for doing it. And that shame was  _his_ doing. He was just about to ask her why she'd felt like she needed to hide her actions from them, when he heard the click of a safety behind him.

He turned around and was met with the firing end of a revolver. He squeezed Carols shoulder a little to make her aware about what was happening around them. He watched as she looked up and just as she opened her mouth to scream for help it was covered with a large hand then he heard a chuckle from the man holding a gun to his temple.

"Now now, honey. Let's jus' calm down. You're both goin' with us now, aint nothin' gonna change tha'", the man said before he jerked his weapon for them to get up from the ground. Once they'd gotten up from the ground another four well-armed men stepped out from the trees to help keep them in their place and let them know not to try anything. Carol grabbed his hand and squeezed it a little, as if to assure him that everything would be fine, that she was sure the others would catch on to their disappearance when they didn't return for lunch and then they'd come after them. He knew she was right, Michonne and Daryl, at least, would notice their absence and would be able to track them back to wherever these med where taking them. He made a point of dragging his feet a little to make it easier for Daryl to track them.

_You better fucking hurry, man. I'll keep her safe for you for as long as I can, but these are the same guys that was at the Terminus and you KNOW they're bad news_ , he tried to communicate silently to his friend.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Carol watched in horror as the man that had been holding his gun towards Rick's temple opened the door to a, in her claustrophobic opinion, very small cargo space and threw Rick inside. She turned her head around to try and figure out where in the world these men had taken them. Her familiarization with the surroundings was cut short by the man behind her pushing her roughly towards the door where Rick had just disappeared and she reluctantly entered. Since they hadn't bothered to cover up their eyes she figured they weren't planning on keeping them alive for long, and the thought of dying in this small space made her want to cry out in frustration. She hadn't survived fifteen years with Ed throwing her into the basement and locking her inside for however long he saw fit only to have some new asshole sealing her faith and locking her in yet another cage to rot in.

_No fucking way am I dying here._

She looked over towards Rick, who had slumped down against one of the four walls. She sat down with her back towards the other and gave away a deep sigh.

" There's no way out of here", he said. Carols' head shot up, how could he just give up so easily? How could he give up on ever seeing his family again,  _their_ family!? She felt anger rise inside of her.

"You don't know that, we just got here. You can't just give up!", she almost screamed at him. She refused to let him give up, she needed his help to get out of here. To get back to Judith, Carl and the rest of them.

_To get back to Daryl..._

"This is the exact same type of cargo space we were trapped in before... I already studied every inch of the last one for a weak spot. There's nothing that'll help us out of here. We just have to wait."

Carol nodded, still simmering from frustration. She wasn't very good at just waiting around to get killed or worse. She'd done it most of her married life, just waiting for that one punch that would finally end her misery.

She stood up and walked over to where Rick sat.

"I need you to practice hand-to-hand battle with me", she said. The look on Rick's face would have made her laugh if they weren't currently stuck in this cage awaiting their death. When he so obviously wasn't catching on as to where her head was at, she decided to explain it to him.

"If we're going to get out of here we'll need to fight our way out, and we need to be smart about it. We don't have any weapons and so we'll need to take them out in close up combat. Now, Daryl has taught me some basic moves but there's definitely room for improvement. Since we have no idea how long we have until they come back for us I suggest we get started right away", she waved her hand for him to get up so they could get on with it but he just sat there, staring at her. Carol sighed and crunched down in front of him.

"Rick, I understand if you're still upset with me, I really do. But please, don't zone out on me now. Please try, we have to get out of here", she almost begged. She really needed to get out of here before her determination and frustration turned into panic and the claustrophobia got the upper hand of the situation.

Finally, he rose to his feet and Carol followed suit.

"So, how much did he teach you?", he asked. Carol smiled, and showed him what she and Daryl had been practicing.

* * *

*******

"Hey Daryl, have you seen Carol? I can't find her"

Daryl looked up from the stick he was currently forming into an arrow and shadowed his eyes with one hand to meet Maggie's, which were filled with worry.

"'Chonne said she was out with Rick, maybe they ain't back yet" He said, trying to keep calm, while he felt the panic starting in his chest. He hadn't been able to find Carol when he got back from the woods, and since Michonne had told him she was out with Rick talking things out, he figured she was going to be alright and get back pretty soon. But that was hours ago. He looked around, trying to find Michonne to see if maybe they'd gotten back and Maggie was just too lazy to actually look for her properly. He spotted Michonne with Tyreese by the porch and called out to her.

"Ey! 'Chonne! Carol and Rick back yet?"

Michonne looked around, and as she shook her head Daryl could see that she too was starting to get worried about the two family-members. He quickly rose to his feet and walked over to her to get more information about where they had actually gone to have their little talk.

"I'm not sure, I know they were talking about going out to pick some mushrooms and they went that way, but that's all I know", she explained as she pointed. Daryl quickly gathered his gear and started in the direction she had pointed when a hand landed on his shoulder to stop him. He turned around to look straight into Michonnes dark and worried eyes.

"I'm going with you, I just have to get us something to eat out there. We both know we won't be any use to them if we're starving or dying of thirst", she said and quickly ran into the house to gather up the things they might need.

"Do you really think something might have happened to them?" Maggie asked, looking around her for any potential threats. Daryl snorted.

"Well, it's not like it would be the first time he goes out with her and comes home alone...", he said bitterly. Maggie just looked away guiltily and nodded. Daryl felt like the worlds biggest asshole, but he couldn't help it. Carol was missing and he was going crazy.

_When I find her again I'm tying her up and ain't letting her go anywhere without me!_

Michonne came back a few minutes later with a pack of necessities. She nodded at him that they were all set and they both took of towards the woods in a rapid paste. Something inside of Daryl told him he needed to find the both of them as fast as he could, that something was really wrong.

They found their tracks easily enough and Daryl crunched on the ground to study their path. Michonne stood behind him, ready to follow once he'd determined which way they should go. He knew she wasn't a half bad tracker herself, since he'd taught her a thing or two on their hunt for the Governor, but she wasn't nearly as good as him and therefore she chose to stand back and let him do the work.

He looked up at from the ground and rose to his feet.

"They where here this morning, but they went further in", he stated more to himself than anything else.

They continued on in silence for a few more minutes and Daryl felt his heart clench in his chest.

_Why did you have to go so far from the house, woman? Damnit!_

"Daryl, look!", he lifted his eyes of the ground and looked over towards where Michonne was pointing and saw the two half-full baskets laying there.

"What the fuck!?" Daryl felt his anger rise, something had definitely happened here, something that most certainly wasn't good. He looked down at the ground again and noticed tracks indicating that someone had been drawn, or at least had wanted it to look that way.

_Smart move Rick_ , he thought recognizing the sheriff's footprints.

"C'mon, this way. It was at least half a day since whatever shit went down here happened and we need to hurry", he waved for Michonne to follow, trying to block the images of what might have happened to Carol and Rick out of his head but failing to completely press down the anger rising within him along with the panic. He was thankful that Michonne had followed him now that he was sure something bad had happened to the both of them, he would need the silent warrior to take down whatever assholes that had taken their family-members.

_Hold on. We're coming for you. Just fucking hold on._

* * *

*******

Panting, they sat down against the wall. They had been at if for at least an hour and Rick had to admit that he was a bit impressed by how good Carol was at defending herself. He watched Carol as she tried to catch her breath, realizing they never got to finish their earlier conversation.

"Hey", he spoke softly, catching her attention. She looked up at him, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I never got to ask you before; Why didn't you just come to me and explain what had happened with Karen and David, why did you hide it?", he asked, deciding to come straight out with it.

The smile on her lips disappeared and she watched him for a few seconds, as if trying to decide what to tell him, before she sighed and opened her mouth.

"I was about to tell Daryl, but then Tyreese found them and when you both swore that whoever had done it would be punished I figured it was smarter to just keep it to myself. I guess I was just afraid that... " Her voiced trailed off and he understood what she had been about to say.

"That we would kick you out, or that we would turn our backs against you and let Tyreese have his revenge", he finished for her, disgusted with himself for doing just that, kicking her out of their family. She nodded.

"I just... I'm so sorry about how this whole thing played out. I know I should have explained when we were out on that last run, but it was all just so surreal to me, you know? My head wasn't really grasping it", she tried to explain. He nodded.

"Carol... I was wrong to kick you out, to say those things to you. You had every right to bitch me out yesterday, and now that I know what really happened I can't blame you for doubting my ability to lead this family", he looked down to the floor as he spoke. He'd never been very good at apologizing and admitting he was in the wrong, and he couldn't look her in the eyes as the words fell from his tongue.

Suddenly, he felt a small hand grasp his in a small comfort.

"You did what you thought was right at the time, Rick. What you thought was the right thing for your children. I'll admit that I felt betrayed, hurt and that I was angry with you for a while. But mostly I think I was all those things because I understood why you did what you did. We were both trying to protect the ones we love, I can never blame you or find you to be a bad man for doing that. But, I think it might take me some time to really let all of this go. I don't really trust easily and well... Even though I don't blame you or have a grudge against you for doing what you did, you still had it in you to leave me out there alone and it's gonna take me a while to get over the fear that it might happen again", she said and let her hand rest in his as they sat there in silence. Rick silently accepted her words, understanding how she felt and not at all surprised at them.

"So, how do we get out of here?", he finally asked her. She smiled up at him, obviously glad he was as prepared as she was to fight his way out of this cage.

"Well, in all honesty I really don't know. How did you do it the last time? I wasn't really in the loop of what was going on at that time. I was mostly angry at Tyreese for risking his dumb ass without telling me", she smirked at him. Rick let out a snort at that statement and began telling her how they had gotten out the night before.

"Provided these are the same people that was at the Terminus, which it looked like it was, I would say they will be taking us out back for bathroom breaks on our own, and since you're quite small I think they won't expect anything from you. But I still think you might need a weapon of some kind...", he stopped as Carol started looking through her pockets for something.

"Like this?", she said triumphal, holding up a small steal nail-file. He smirked and nodded, thinking back to the CDC where Shane had said that a nail-file probably wouldn't help much.

"Okay, so you'll use that to take the guard down. Provided it's just the one, that is. And then..." he stopped speaking immediately and they both froze in their place as the door creaked open. A large guard stepped inside, not even bothering to look at Rick but went straight for Carol, who whimpered and gave him a confused and terrified look, and yanked her up roughly before dragging her out of the cargo space and closing the door behind them again.

Rick hadn't foreseen this happening and he felt the panic rise inside of him. What would they do to her? He wasn't even sure the others had even noticed that they were gone, which would mean that they weren't even close to finding them. He needed to get them both out of here one way or the other, and he needed to do it before they had time to do anything to Carol, which ment he had to think of something fast. He rose and started to pace the small space, running his hands through his hair.

_Think think think, C'MON DAMNIT! She's gonna fucking die if you don't do something, NOW!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to put up a small warning sign for sensitive readers. This chapters contains both strong language and some sexual violence. You've been warned!

Chapter 8  
  


Carol didn't try to struggle herself out of the grip the guard had of her wrist. He was too big and she knew that it wouldn't do much good anyway, except probably earn her a slap or two to the face. So instead she focused on taking in her surroundings. Even though she had no idea where she was being taken she still clung to the determination of getting out of wherever "here" was.

The man shoved her into a new room of some kind, it was pitch black save for a small lamp that hung from the ceiling, lighting up a wooden chair where she assumed they would put her. To keep the man from pushing her, and thus keep herself from falling to the floor by the force, she started for the chair. She'd seen enough of movies in her youth to know where this was going; they would beat her until she told them whatever it was that they wanted to know. At least she hoped that was all they where going to do.

But when she sat down and waited for them to tie her hands and feet, the man who had gathered her from the cargo space just laughed at her and before she could look up to see what it was that was so funny, the room lit up and she found herself in the middle of a room with eight different men standing around her. Carol swallowed hard.

_Not so lucky then..._

"So, what do you guys think we should do with this one?", the man asked, after he'd finished laughing at her. Carol felt sick, she knew exactly where this was going, what kind of men this was. She'd been married to one just like them. She let her lip crawl up into a disgusted curve at the thought of one of these men touching her.

"I think she's got to much clothes on", a skinnier one of the men offered and let his tung dart out to lick his lips. Carol looked over towards him and gave him a look that showed him exactly how much she loathed him and his despicable little friends.

A agreeing rumble went through the room and the man who had brought her stepped up to her, his knife drawn, and cut her shirt open, taking her bra with it. He then slid it of her to reveal her to the rest of the men. A gasp slipped out her lips before she could stop it and Carol moved to hide her nakedness from the eyes that were starring at her.

"Hey, no blocking the view! Chad, string her up!", one of the men called out. The man who'd just cut her shirt open, apparently named Chad, caught her wrists, forced them behind the chair and tied her up. He then let his fingers dance over her chest-area. When he caught one of her breasts in his palm Carol closed her eyes hard and forced her mind to go somewhere else. When Ed had hit her, or forced himself upon her, she'd always thought about how beautiful her daughter was when she smiled and while the act proceeded she hadn't been mentally present. This time she let her mind drift to Daryl.

She ran the memories of him through her mind as she blocked the other men out. The memory of him coming back from a days long hunt, carrying a deer and some squirrels over his broad shoulders. The memory of that embarrassed smile he'd always get whenever she teased or flirted with him. The memory of him licking his fingers after he'd eaten, in the way that made her body yearn for those lips to touch her, to lick her. Suddenly there was just his face, nothing else, in front of her inner vision and she wanted so bad to touch him. She wanted so bad to tell him all of her worries and have him make them go away, like he somehow always did.

She let a tear fall from her eye as she kept her inner vision trained on his handsome face and the realization that she might never see him again hit her.

Then, suddenly, the previously smiling face changed into one of determination and almost anger. She furrowed her brows, this wasn't what she wanted to remember him like.

"I'm coming for you woman, just fucking hold on". She almost jumped at his voice; clear, as if he'd been right beside her.

"HEY, no fun if you're not with us!"

She was brought out of her daydreaming as a fist collided with her face. The man, Chad, laughed at her as she spat out the blood his fist had caused her mouth to flood with. Carol kept her eyes calm as she looked up at him and spat at his shoes. If it'd be the last thing she did in this world, she'd make sure this man paid for his crimes. She let her eyes glance over the other men in the room and noticed that they had all dropped the weapons they'd been holding earlier. She let her lips form the tiniest smile as she remember the conversation she'd had with Merle about not underestimating her.

_Idiots_

A movement in the left corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned towards it only to have her heartbeat quicken as the panic once again started to take over. One of the men was approaching her, a wicked smile on his face. Chad moved to give way for the approaching man and Carol wanted to throw up. There was no way the others would get here before they did God-knows-what to her. There was no way for Daryl to save her now.

"So, sweet-cheeks, what's your name?", the man said as he reached her. When she refused to answer he gave away something Carol assumed was supposed to be a laugh but sounded more like a cough of some sort.

"A little shy, are we? Well, it doesn't really matter. I'm no good with remembering what all yall's names are anyway", he continued and Carol felt her blood run cold at the prospect of he would do to her.

She closed her eyes to keep from watching as his hand ran over her left breast and she felt how he trembled at the touch of her skin. Tears started to form in her eyes again; nobody was supposed to touch her like that again. After Ed had died she'd made a vow to herself that if anybody ever tried to touch her against her will ever again, she would cut their hand of. The thought of Ed sent a shiver through her body and the man moaned at the feeling and let his free hand travel down to his belt-buckle and open it up.

"So soft", he moaned and started to stroke himself. Carol gagged at the sight of him getting himself off to the feel of her breast, somehow still thankful it wasn't getting any worse than that. But then she saw another one of the men start towards her and the first man freed her hands, grabbed one of them and put it on his hard member. She let the tears fall over as he guided her hand up and down his hard cock and he grunted at the feeling of her female hand on what was supposed to be his manhood. But this was no man, a man would never be aroused by a woman's suffering. When the other man bent down and bit her nipple she screamed in agony and all the men surrounding her started laughing at her.

"Guys, hurry up! I'm getting sick of waiting my turn. No fucking foreplay, this bitch ain't your wife!", she heard another of the men shout and she trembled as fear grabbed a hold of her.

_Please, someone just do something. Anything! Just please make it stop!_

She did her best to try and zone out again, to go back to the safety in her memories, but was rewarded with another blow to the face by Chad, who was standing behind her and making sure she was present during the whole thing. She hated him so much, even more than she hated the men that where currently assaulting her. This man was the one she'd save for last and take her fucking time with if she ever got the chance.

* * *

*******

Pale-white he watched as the door opened again. This time they were coming for him. Did that mean Carol was already dead and that it was his turn now? Had they really killed her that fast? He could swear it hadn't been more than fifteen minutes since they'd come for her. No, it couldn't have gone that fast. Or could it?

Rick's thoughts ran back and forth in his head as he was picked up by two men and dragged out of the cargo space. He tried his best to see any evidence that they had taken Carol it the same direction he was now being brought, but no matter how hard he tried to focus his eyes he couldn't see anything. All he could do was hope she was still alive somewhere in this godforsaken place and that the rest of the group had somehow figured out where they'd been taken.

His thought, however, was interrupted as they approached one of the buildings and a loud scream was heard. He could tell it was a woman screaming, but that was about it. He couldn't figure out whether or not it was Carol screaming and, from the sound of it, he wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

The men dragged him towards a door and shoved him inside before following, locking the door behind them. Rick instantly realized the source of the cry wasn't Carol but a young, dark-haired, girl. She was sitting in the middle of the room, with four men standing around watching as another two used different parts of her body to please themselves. The five men that was standing around them were all obviously aroused at the sight of the girl being raped.

Rick couldn't help put fall to his knees and throw up all the contents of his stomach as he heard the men grunt and moan at the girls cries and pleads for them to stop.

He was picked up by the men again and dragged towards another door at the corner of the room.

"New slaves needs tp be broken in properly you see", one of the men spoke in his ear.

He looked back at the girl and sent up a prayer for her as he walked through the door to meet his own fate.

_If that's what's about to happen to Carol right now you seriously need to hurry the fuck up and save our asses before it goes too far._

The two men threw him down on the floor and left the room.

After a while Rick was beginning to think maybe nothing was happening to him. Maybe they'd just moved him to lower the risk of him escaping? But then the door opened again and the same woman they'd met when they first entered the Terminus entered. She dragged a chair up to stand in front of him and sat down on it.

"Do you want to get out of here?", she asked.

Rick looked up at her. Of course he wanted the fuck out of here, but he wouldn't dare to tell her that since he was pretty sure it was a trick-question. So instead of answering he just kept quiet.

"There's a way for you to get out of here. If you succeed you can even take that bitch you came with along when you go. Although I can't promise she'll be in any walking-condition, if you know what I mean", she continued and smiled wickedly at him. Rick felt sick at this whole situation. What kind of sick people was this? Who'd do this to other human beings?

He didn't say anything though, he just kept staring at her, disgusted.

The woman shrugged at his continued silence and obviously decided she didn't really care if he wanted to know what she had to say or not, because she continued her offer despite his lack of answers.

"We'll let you fight for it, your freedom. You'll be put against an amount of walkers, and provided you kill them all to our satisfaction we might let you go", she watched him for a minute as he took in the information. So he would be fighting, he thought. He could do that. He could definitely fight if that was what it would take to get him and Carol out of here. Still, he couldn't help but feel like there was a catch to all this. He could see that the woman had caught up to his doubts, by the way she was smiling at him.

"It makes the meat tastier", she said.

"So if the walkers kill me, you'll eat me?" he finally spoke out of shock at this realization. These people where not only sadists, they where fucking cannibals.

She woman gave him a shocked look.

"Of course not, wouldn't want to eat something infected!", she almost sounded offended that he'd think they would eat walker-infected meat. But then that smile that made his skin crawl was back again and as the turned to walk towards the door she spoke again:

"If you survive, but don't put on a good enough show for us, then we'll have to make use of you at the dinner table instead", she finished and Rick wondered how this was all happening. This had to be some sick nightmare or something. This bitch was telling him that he'd have to fight of a unknown number of walkers, and make a show out of it, or he'd be served for supper and God-knows-what would happen to Carol, if it wasn't happening right now.

_Fuck! This is bad, man. You really need to get here fast, 'Cause I'm not sure either of us are getting out of here alive if you don't._

* * *

*******

Daryl put his hand up to hush Michonne, who was right behind him, and together they watched as two big men dragged Rick out of a little cargo space, similar to that in which they'd escaped from just about 24 hours ago. Michonne grabbed his shoulder to get his attention.

"Where the fuck is Carol?", she whispered.

Daryl felt anger run through him at the thought of what these assholes might do to her.

"I don't know, but I'm sure as fuck gonna find her", he answered through clenched teeth.

_I'm coming for you woman, just fucking hold on_


End file.
